The Broadcast Education Association (BEA) had its 63rd Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, from April 07 – 10, 2018. If you haven’t heard about BEA, here is a brief introduction from their website:
“The Broadcast Education Association (BEA) is the premier international academic media organization, driving insights, excellence in media production, and career advancement for educators, students, and professionals. The association’s publications, annual convention, web-based programs, and regional district activities provide opportunities for juried production competition and presentation of current scholarly research related to aspects of the electronic media. These areas include media audiences, economics, law and policy, regulation, news, management, aesthetics, social effects, history, and criticism, among others. BEA is concerned with electronic media curricula, placing an emphasis on interactions among the purposes, developments, and practices of the industry and imparting this information to future professionals. BEA serves as a forum for exposition, analysis and debate of issues of social importance to develop members’ awareness and sensitivity to these issues and to their ramifications, which will ultimately help students develop as more thoughtful practitioners.” [https://www.beaweb.org/]
With colleagues from different universities I presented a panel titled: “Social Media Analytics at Crossroads”.
The pervasive use of social media has led to an increasing realization about the need to measure and assess its impact. Measuring online social activity is commonly seen under the banner of social media analytics which comprises a set of interdisciplinary techniques and methods to evaluate big data. Social media analytics is at crossroads because of its evolving nature. Scholars in business, communication, and informatics domains are active in solving data-related complexities by employing social analytic software. The ability to use such software that allow data to be gathered, analyzed, and visualized, present a unique set of challenges and opportunities. It is this interdisciplinary focus that mandates the creation of a new skills-based curriculum that effectively meets the needs of students in disparate academic domains. This panel aims to provide valuable insights into how these unique challenges are being met.
Other Presentations at the panel were as follows:
- From the Structuration Theory to Active within Structures: An Integration of Divergent Audience Approaches – Roger Cooper, Ohio University
- Communication Research: An Evolving Industry Perspective – Matt Kaiser, Ohio University
- Social Media Analytics at Crossroads – Laeeq Khan, Ohio University
- Integrating Big Data with Audience Reception Research – L. Meghan Mahoney, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
- Measurement in Mass Communication Research: Trends, Opportunities, and Challenges – Tang Tang, Kent State University
Laeeq Khan, Ph.D. 